History of Russian music before 1800

[Dave2002]

Were there any significant Russian composers before 1800? The only one I've found so far is Alexander Alyabyev (1787-1851) who is most well known for his songs - including the Nightingale. We have fairly well defined "road maps" for musical history in Europe from around 1200 and also in England/Scotland/Ireland/Wales from around 1500, but not much seems to be written about music in Russia before 1800.

The first major Russian composers "on the scene" appear to be Glinka, Borodin and Balakirev.

Was there any tradition of instrumental music - perhaps smaller scale than symphonies before 1800? Anything comparable to the baroque composers - Vivaldi, Bach etc.?

What about choral and vocal music? Perhaps there was only folk music or other forms of music in Russia before 1800.

[mercia]

wikipedia thinks there were one or two

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronological_list_of_Russian_classical_composers

[Dave2002]

wikipedia thinks there were one or two
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronol...ical_composers

Bortniansky is the one easiest to find, I think - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bortniansky-.../dp/B005TEXUEA and easy to listen to - http://open.spotify.com/track/4VZT5eMVIhC2q2MgBXYiRo

Information on his life is here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitry_Bortniansky

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The first major Russian composers "on the scene" appear to be Glinka, Borodin and Balakirev.

And Glinka was thirty when the other two were born - Dargomyzhsky should be added, too.

Curious that half of the six WIKI composers mercs links to are Ukraininan - and a third are women! But instrumental/orchestral Music doesn't seem to feature prominently until "The Five". I had thought that Catherine the Great had introduced such a repertoire to her court, but perhaps she used foreign composers?

[Roehre]

It's perhaps not by chance that only very recently a German book on Russian and Soviet Music history saw the light of day, with the blurp explaining that this was the first such a book published in the west which was not a translation from an originally Russian source.....

[teamsaint]

Bortniansky is the one easiest to find, I think - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bortniansky-.../dp/B005TEXUEA and easy to listen to - http://open.spotify.com/track/4VZT5eMVIhC2q2MgBXYiRo

Information on his life is here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitry_Bortniansky

There are a few pieces of his on CD29, Orthodox Church music , of the DHM Sacred Music set. Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir,, Paul Hillier.
It's an excellent CD, although if you didn't know, I doubt anybody but a real expert would pick it out as being Russian .

Here's a taste.

EMS Download .http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0100jkn

[doversoul1]

Nikolay Diletsky (c. 1630 – after 1680)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIuA4RdOCak

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/gh3/Nikolay-Diletsky-Contemporaries-Keylina-Consort-Ensemble-Soloists/B019G74MKQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1489949543&sr=8-1&keywords=Nikolay+Diletsky

Vasily Polikarpovich Titov (c. 1650 – c. 1715)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB2xDtRO6Vs

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Russian-Choral-Music-Vol-1/dp/B000001HC1/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1489949412&sr=1-2&keywords=Vasily+Polikarpovich+Titov

Secular music / folk-sy songs
Russian Baroque c.1690-1740

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRWdWMfSyVc

[ed.] Just found this
Russian Music before Glinka
http://www.biu.ac.il/hu/mu/min-ad02/ritzarev.html

[vinteuil]

.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Khandoshkin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxDSMu_lKek

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWiBq-sCGgQ